Fired Chipotle workers picket downtown restaurant [VIDEO]

Wearing Santa hats and chanting "Justice for Latino workers," fired Chipotle workers and their supporters marched into the Chipotle restaurant on Nicollet Mall demanding an explanation for the mass firings of Latino workers from the chain's Minnesota locations over the past month.

Joined by members of the Service Employees International Union Local 26, the workers packed the restaurant in the middle of its lunch rush, singing Christmas carols, chanting, and waving their signs. Spokesmen for the group told the restaurant manager they intended to stay until Chipotle agreed to meet with the workers.

Veronica Mendez of the Centro de Trabajadores Unidos in Lucha addressed the workers outside Chipotle this afternoon.

Addressing the crowd outside the restaurant through an interpreter, one fired worker who identified himself as Alejandro said the group wants to meet with Chipotle officials to make three demands:

"The demand that we're making of the company is that they tell us the truth about why they're really firing us, that they give us some amount of time, to be able to resolve any discrepancies between our names and social security numbers, and that they compensate workers for all the years that we have given our work to the company."

After more than half an hour of picketing outside the restaurant, the workers were told that Chipotle officials would meet with them January 3.

Here's some video of the event, showing the chaos of the restaurant takeover and the statement by one of the fired workers.